Washington Ave. Shop Garners Notice For Unique Business Model

Two years after opening, Bitter and Esters has gotten some belated-but-still-lovely attention from The Daily News. 

In an article last week, the New York Daily News looks at the Washington Avenue homebrew shop's unique business model: home-brewing classes combined with a heavy dose of community activism, topped off with the only brew-on-premises facility in New York City.  

In its mainstay class, Brewshop 101: Homebrewing Essentials, the shop’s staff guides customers through the beer-making process, cleans up and stores beer ferments until they’re ready for drinking. Customers can also buy equipment and ingredients for their own personal crafting, and taste other creations at regular parties.

“Young people are paying more attention to what they put in their bodies,” Bitter and Esters co-owner John La Polla told The Daily News. “And they want to be able to make things themselves.”

La Polla and his business partner, Douglas Amport, are heavily active in the commercial strip's merchant's group, the Washington Avenue Prospect Heights Association. Amport has served as co-chair of WAPHA’s Street Beautification Committee and is active in spearheading the effort to create a Business Improvement District on Washington.

Check out our own Amy Sara Clark’s beer brewing video introduction with La Polla himself. Even if you don't plan to brew beer, it's goofy enough to provide any needed end-of-week levity.